Abstract Supernova (SN) H0pe is a multiply-imaged Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) and the second lensed SN to yield a measurement of the Hubble constant by the time-delay cosmography method, finding . We investigate the seven lens modeling approaches used to deriveH0, assessing their agreement with ΛCDM constraints from SN Ia surveys through a purely observational comparison. We test each lens model by combining its predicted magnifications with the observed time delays to reconstruct the intrinsic SN Ia luminosity and corresponding distance modulus. While photometrically derived magnifications yield distance moduli in line with ΛCDM expectations, our comparison reveals that lens model predictions, even the most precise ones, consistently overestimate the magnification, with an offset > 1 mag. This known bias, already appreciated by modeling teams, is independently confirmed through our analysis and highlights the value of lensed SNe as a tool to test model accuracy. If unaccounted for, such magnification biases can propagate into uncertainties in derived cosmological parameters, includingH0, a critical challenge for precision cosmology using strongly lensed transients.
more »
« less
Sp1149. II. Spectroscopy of H ii Regions near the Critical Curve of MACS J1149 and Cluster Lens Models
Abstract Galaxy-cluster gravitational lenses enable the study of faint galaxies even at large lookback times, and, recently, time-delay constraints on the Hubble constant. There have been few tests, however, of lens model predictions adjacent to the critical curve (≲8″) where the magnification is greatest. In a companion paper, we use the GLAFIC lens model to constrain the BalmerL–σrelation for Hiiregions in a galaxy at redshiftz= 1.49 strongly lensed by the MACS J1149 galaxy cluster. Here we perform a detailed comparison between the predictions of 10 cluster lens models that employ multiple modeling assumptions with our measurements of 11 magnified, giant Hiiregions. We find that that the models predict magnifications an average factor of 6.2 smaller, a ∼2σtension, than that inferred from the Hiiregions under the assumption that they follow the low-redshiftL–σrelation. To evaluate the possibility that the lens model magnifications are strongly biased, we next consider the flux ratios among knots in three images of Sp1149, and find that these are consistent with model predictions. Moreover, while the mass-sheet degeneracy could in principle account for a factor of ∼6 discrepancy in magnification, the value ofH0inferred from SN Refsdal’s time delay would become implausibly small. We conclude that the lens models are not likely to be highly biased, and that instead the Hiiregions in Sp1149 are substantially more luminous than the low-redshift BalmerL–σrelation predicts.
more »
« less
- PAR ID:
- 10514277
- Publisher / Repository:
- AAS
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- The Astrophysical Journal
- Volume:
- 967
- Issue:
- 2
- ISSN:
- 0004-637X
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 92
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
More Like this
-
-
ABSTRACT We study the effect of magnification in the Dark Energy Survey Year 3 analysis of galaxy clustering and galaxy–galaxy lensing, using two different lens samples: a sample of luminous red galaxies, redMaGiC, and a sample with a redshift-dependent magnitude limit, MagLim. We account for the effect of magnification on both the flux and size selection of galaxies, accounting for systematic effects using the Balrog image simulations. We estimate the impact of magnification on the galaxy clustering and galaxy–galaxy lensing cosmology analysis, finding it to be a significant systematic for the MagLim sample. We show cosmological constraints from the galaxy clustering autocorrelation and galaxy–galaxy lensing signal with different magnifications priors, finding broad consistency in cosmological parameters in ΛCDM and wCDM. However, when magnification bias amplitude is allowed to be free, we find the two-point correlation functions prefer a different amplitude to the fiducial input derived from the image simulations. We validate the magnification analysis by comparing the cross-clustering between lens bins with the prediction from the baseline analysis, which uses only the autocorrelation of the lens bins, indicating that systematics other than magnification may be the cause of the discrepancy. We show that adding the cross-clustering between lens redshift bins to the fit significantly improves the constraints on lens magnification parameters and allows uninformative priors to be used on magnification coefficients, without any loss of constraining power or prior volume concerns.more » « less
-
Abstract We measure the projected two-point correlation functions of emission-line galaxies (ELGs) from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument One-Percent Survey and model their dependence on stellar mass and [OII] luminosity. We select ∼180,000 ELGs with redshifts of 0.8 < z < 1.6, and define 27 samples according to cuts in redshift and both galaxy properties. Following a framework that describes the conditional [OII] luminosity–stellar mass distribution as a function of halo mass, we simultaneously model the clustering measurements of all samples at fixed redshift. Based on the modeling result, most ELGs in our samples are classified as central galaxies, residing in halos of a narrow mass range with a typical median of ∼1012.2−12.4h−1M⊙. We observe a weak dependence of clustering amplitude on stellar mass, which is reflected in the model constraints and is likely a consequence of the 0.5 dex measurement uncertainty in the stellar mass estimates. The model shows a trend between galaxy bias and [OII] luminosity at high redshift (1.2 < z < 1.6) that is otherwise absent at lower redshifts.more » « less
-
Abstract As a part of the Deciphering the Interplay between the Interstellar medium, Stars, and the Circumgalactic medium (DIISC) survey, we investigate indirect evidence of gas inflow into the disk of the galaxyNGC 99. We combine optical spectra from the Binospec spectrograph on the MMT telescope with optical imaging data from the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope, radio Hi21 cm emission images from the NSF Karl G. Jansky’s Very Large Array, and UV spectroscopy from the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph on the Hubble Space Telescope. We measure emission lines (Hα, Hβ, [Oiii]λ5007, [Nii]λ6583, and [Sii]λ6717, 31) in 26 Hiiregions scattered about the galaxy and estimate a radial metallicity gradient of −0.017 dex kpc−1using the N2 metallicity indicator. Two regions in the sample exhibit an anomalously low metallicity (ALM) of 12 + log(O/H) = 8.36 dex, which is ∼0.16 dex lower than other regions at that galactocentric radius. They also show a high difference between their Hiand Hαline of sight velocities on the order of 35 km s−1. Chemical evolution modeling indicates gas accretion as the cause of the ALM regions. We find evidence for corotation between the interstellar medium ofNGC 99and Lyαclouds in its circumgalactic medium, which suggests a possible pathway for low metallicity gas accretion. We also calculate the resolved Fundamental Metallicity Relation (rFMR) on subkiloparsec scales using localized gas-phase metallicity, stellar mass surface density, and star formation rate surface density. The rFMR shows a similar trend as that found by previous localized and global FMR relations.more » « less
-
The importance of alternative methods for measuring the Hubble constant, such as time-delay cosmography, is highlighted by the recent Hubble tension. It is paramount to thoroughly investigate and rule out systematic biases in all measurement methods before we can accept new physics as the source of this tension. In this study, we perform a check for systematic biases in the lens modelling procedure of time-delay cosmography by comparing independent and blind time-delay predictions of the system WGD 2038−4008 from two teams using two different software programs:GLEEandLENSTRONOMY. The predicted time delays from the two teams incorporate the stellar kinematics of the deflector and the external convergence from line-of-sight structures. The un-blinded time-delay predictions from the two teams agree within 1.2σ, implying that once the time delay is measured the inferred Hubble constant will also be mutually consistent. However, there is a ∼4σdiscrepancy between the power-law model slope and external shear, which is a significant discrepancy at the level of lens models before the stellar kinematics and the external convergence are incorporated. We identify the difference in the reconstructed point spread function (PSF) to be the source of this discrepancy. When the same reconstructed PSF was used by both teams, we achieved excellent agreement, within ∼0.6σ, indicating that potential systematics stemming from source reconstruction algorithms and investigator choices are well under control. We recommend that future studies supersample the PSF as needed and marginalize over multiple algorithms or realizations for the PSF reconstruction to mitigate the systematics associated with the PSF. A future study will measure the time delays of the system WGD 2038−4008 and infer the Hubble constant based on our mass models.more » « less
An official website of the United States government

